Another Chance in Hell
by amkay
Summary: Second chances come when you least expect them, usually when you don't want it. At least that's how Naruto felt as he was dying from his kamikaze attack against Orochimaru and the Kyuubi coerced him into a way out. Too bad the fox's way meant going back to the good old days, when nobody really gave a damn about him. Er, make that his past-self. This was crazy! AU, and lots of it.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The first thing to go was his vision. Not that such a thing really mattered anymore now that he was dying. And he considered the loss a blessing in disguise. He didn't want the last thing he ever saw to be this paradise-turned-wasteland.

War had torn through the Fire Nation and other surrounding Elemental Countries like an unstoppable hurricane, leaving nothing but chaos and devastation in its wake. Leading this climatic change was Orochimaru, one of the most powerful shinobi to ever live as well as the legendary Snake Sannin. And his last target to destroy after conquering or terminating many lands and other ninja was Konohagakure no Sato, his home he had betrayed for power. Sadly, none had been able to stop the man and were killed, even innocents like children or regular villagers.

It was fortunate that he could no longer see what had become of his once beautiful home. He preferred the memories over the ashen and bloodied battlefield full of bodies of comrades and enemies alike; darkness was better than death any day.

He sighed softly to himself, only to end up coughing up a mouthful of blood. The movement caused a shock of pain to shoot through him, burning his over abused nerves and adding to his overall agony. His body was useless now due to the kamikaze attack he'd unleashed against Orochimaru just a few minutes earlier. Battered, broken, and deteriorating beyond even his advanced healing ability's repair, he was as good as dead.

_Is this how it's going to end? _He wondered, lying resignedly in a pool of his blood. _Alone and pathetic, with nothing but that bastard snake's body for company?_

He supposed it could've been worse. Orochimaru could have been alive and smirking down at him in his ex-best friend/brother's body, Sasuke's aristocratic features twisted into something ugly by the near-immortal body-swapping ninja. And instead of letting him die in peace, the bastard probably would have kept him barely alive and used him as one of his sick experiments.

_Oh, yeah. This could have _definitely _been worse._

**You foolish human. Why must you waste time thinking idiotic things when you should be trying to stay alive?**

If he'd had any energy left, he would've scowled. As it was, he could only curse at the rumbling voice echoing in his head. _Shut up, you stupid fox! _He shouted in his mind. _The least you can do is let me die without hearing your insults. Just accept it already—it's over!_

There was a sense of a shifting presence inside of him and then the demon known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune was snarling at him. **Despicable little insect! **Hissed the nine-tailed fox, King of the Biju and most powerful of all the infamous tailed demons. **I will not let my existence end in such a pathetic way! Especially when I am still trapped in a weak human like you! **With a roar, the demon unleashed its blood-red chakra into the seal that bound it to the dying mortal. The energy forced itself into the young man who was helpless to stop the exchange of life force.

"Damn . . . fox," the young man growled out before the surge of power forced him to lose consciousness.

Kyuubi heard the man's words but paid them no heed. Instead, the demon continued to pump more of its chakra into him, forcing the body's most grievous wounds to start healing. While that was happening, the fox began to chant in an unrecognizable language. As blood congealed and flesh and bone regenerated, words that were more song than language echoed within the mindscape. Not many were aware of just how old the Kyuubi was, but it had picked up a lot of things in the eons of its life.

All nine of its red-orange tails lashed wildly behind it as it completed the ritual with a snap of its teeth. There was a momentary pause as the residual power hummed through the air, both inside the mindscape as well as in the outside world. Where the young blond lay nearly naked except for the few rags of orange and black clothes, his body was covered in the Kyuubi's violent chakra. It fluctuated back and forth like waves of fire, and then abruptly burst outward into the surrounding area.

What was left of the destroyed ruins of Konoha was swept away in the explosion of red energy. The shriveled body of Orochimaru disintegrated to nothing but ash, other bodies nearby joining its state. All except for the blond at the very epicenter. The sky transformed from day to night in an instant and wind swirled in a vortex of the area around the blond man. It was as if the very forces of nature were conspiring to annihilate the last survivor of the Village Hidden in Leaves.

**Be grateful, human**, the Kyuubi growled as it lay down inside the large cage that made up a majority of the seal. **You're getting a second chance that many would've killed for. **Suddenly the beast chuckled, a sound reminiscent to thunder. **Then again, you did kill that pesky little snake. Maybe this time you'll kill him sooner . . . and then I will be one step closer to freedom. It's only a matter of time.** With that ominous statement that went unheard by its host, the Kyuubi no Kitsune shut its slit crimson eyes and fell into a deep sleep after much of its power was drained. And as it rested, a dark red light consumed the young man's body, fading away seconds later with no evidence of the epic battle that had taken place in the ruins of Konoha. All that was left was a crater.

* * *

_Ugh, where the hell am I?_

This was the first thought that passed through the blond's mind as he woke, eyes still shut in the ruse of sleeping. It was a habit he'd developed long ago ever since his first kidnapping. People tended to spill more secrets when they weren't aware their hostage was able to hear them.

However, he couldn't sense any immediate danger other than the beginnings of one hell of a migraine, so he cautiously opened his eyes. Cerulean blue eyes took in the sight of a vast blue sky that was the same almost anywhere. Having found no obvious information there to explain his whereabouts, the spike-haired blond let his gaze drift lower . . . and then he blinked in confusion.

"This place . . . it looks so familiar," he mumbled, taking in the large grassy field and sweeping trees bordering the place. It wasn't until his eyes fell on a seemingly insignificant group of wooden posts that he finally realized where he was.

_That's where it all began . . . but . . . it can't be possible_, he thought with narrowed eyes. Sitting up, he was about to stand when the pain hit him. "Fuck!" he hissed out through clenched teeth, falling backwards as his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach.

It felt very much like he was being burned alive from the inside out, agony washing over him in the familiar sensation of scalding heat. A burst of red chakra shot out of his body and quickly covered him in a blanket of crimson waves. His nails lengthened into claws, digging painfully into the flesh of his stomach and drawing blood. Teeth ached as they grew sharper and stronger, his canines growing enough so they bit into his lips where more beads of blood formed. And though he could not see it, his shoulder-length golden hair bristled and became even further untamable spikes, streaks of crimson red shooting through the strands until they completely overtook the blond color.

The young man almost screamed when he felt the bones of his face shift. It became more narrowed—jaw thinning, cheekbones shifting higher, the overall baby fat he hadn't yet lost from adolescence vanished, and his eye shape contracted to a more almond-like look. And the faint whisker marks that revealed his curse to the world grew in length and darkened, now curving all the way down to his lower jaw instead of resting just on his cheeks.

The transformation lasted only seconds, but to the recipient it had lasted almost another pain-filled twenty-one years. With a gasp, the blond-turned redhead finally let go of his throbbing stomach. The fire had finally receded to a low but manageable ember, and the majority of his torment had dimmed with it. He closed his still-blue eyes and slowly let himself relax.

"What's happening to me?" he asked quietly.

There was no answer, something he'd half-expected since his unwanted tenant hadn't said a word in nearly four years. _Though I guess my peace and quiet time is all over now that the stupid fox started talking again. Lucky me._

With a frown, he concentrated his mind and dove into his subconscious, the process coming easily to him after doing it so much when he wanted to meditate in order to perform some of his more daunting jutsu. Inside his mind it was the same as ever. Long dark corridors that could lead anywhere, five-inch water randomly flowing like a stream on the ground, and steel pipes attached to the walls as if in a sewer. He'd always thought his subconscious was a gloomy place, not that it was surprising considering his dark outlook on life that used to be hidden by enthusiasm and fake smiles.

Sighing, the redhead began trudging down one of the pathways, heading in the direction where the seal room resided. "Might as well see if that giant parasite knows what the hell is going on," he growled. It seemed like it took hours to reach his destination, but experience let him know that outside in the real world time was passing so slowly that nothing would seem to change after he woke up. However, inside his mind everything felt like normal speed. Eventually he found the seal room, as he'd taken to calling it, where the Kyuubi was imprisoned behind five-foot thick steel bars that went from the water-logged floor to the pitch black ceiling above.

At least, that's where the fox demon _should've_ been.

"Oi, bastard fox! Where the hell are ya?" he called out when he didn't see the usual giant crimson eyes glaring from behind the bars.

Silence met his question.

With the beginnings of dread filling him, the young man cautiously walked up to the bars. It wouldn't be the first time the fox pretended to be gone, attempting to trick him into approaching the jail and then quickly striking it with massive claws, trying to drag him inside so it could devour him whole. Yet when he made it within a few feet, well past the safety boundary, no claws or fangs shot out at him.

"Hey, Kyuubi! You in there?" he tried again.

**You damn mortal**, came the thundering voice of the Kitsune, though it sounded quieter. Like it was . . . tired?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the ex-blond asked, scowling into the darkened chamber. He couldn't see anything past the sealed jail and that fact was making him frustrated.

The sound of fur sliding along something reached his ears and he instinctively leapt back, and not a moment too soon. The claws he'd been expecting crashed into the gate a millisecond later, sparks shooting off from the sudden friction and momentarily lighting up the confines of the cage. What he saw in those few short seconds shocked him.

His blue eyes widened and he would've gaped had he been his younger and less composed self instead of the hardened warrior whose new mask was serious, cold, or expressionless rather than of wide grins that meant absolutely nothing.

Kyuubi no Kitsune was said to be the size of a mountain, with nine powerful tails easily likened to leviathans, and crimson-colored eyes as large and chilling as a vast lake. When the beast was sealed into Naruto Uzumaki by the Fourth Hokage, it had shrunk to a more manageable yet still colossal size. In those few moments of lighting, the fox's size was considerably less. Now merely the size of a two-story building, with only six tails fanning out behind it like the writhing tongues of flames.

There was only one thing Naruto could think to say to this new revelation.

"What the fuck happened to you, furball?"

**Insolence!** Kyuubi hissed. The sound was reminiscent of fire consuming flesh. **How dare you come here and insult me after I saved your pathetic life! If I wasn't trapped behind this accursed seal, I would skewer you with my claws before using your bones to pick my teeth of your flesh.**

Naruto's surprised expression melted into a cold glare, the blue of his eyes paling to the color of ice. "Threaten all you want, demon, but I've already heard them. So instead of wasting your time and mine, why don't you tell me what the fuck is going on so I don't have to stare at your ugly mug all day."

For a moment it looked as if the downsized Kyuubi would continue spewing off more insults and death threats, but then it started laughing. The noise was chilling in its unnaturalness, especially since Naruto had never heard the fox laugh before, and he couldn't stop the shiver that ran up his spine. Blood eyes narrowing and a cruel, fanged smile-like snarl curling its lips, the Kyuubi spoke with a condescending tone to its voice.

**You have gotten very bold in my absence, human. Yet your foolishness is the same as ever. Very well, I shall tell you what has transpired while you were dying like a pathetic weakling.**

**After you killed that annoying snake, your body began to deteriorate beyond the healing capabilities you inherited from my presence. However, I used some of my chakra and force-fed it to you, allowing you to regenerate enough to survive the ritual.**

"What ritual? What did it do?" Naruto demanded, suspicious. He recalled the place he'd woken up at and that dread he'd felt earlier turned into horror at the fox's next words.

Malice glinted in the demon's eyes. Had it been human, the Biju would've been smirking. **In order for you to stay alive, I sacrificed some of my power to finish the spell. You should be grateful, Naruto. Not many mortals get a second chance to fix things. Welcome to Konoha—or should I say, the past Konoha.**

Before Naruto could respond, he was forced out of his mind by a shove of the Kyuubi's conscious, and then he opened his slit blue eyes to take in the real world. His gaze fell on the now recognized area of Training Ground #7.

_Where I became a ninja_, he thought dazedly. _This is where everything began._ A memory came to him in a flash and a bittersweet smile twisted his lips, transforming his face into a visage common on war veterans all over the world. "And this is where it should have ended," he said to himself. He and Orochimaru had fought here to the death, the last place to survive Konoha's destruction. With a weary sigh, Naruto looked up to the sky, absently noting that it was just past dawn judging from the minimal light and lack of sun.

Quoting his dead friend (or was that fact wrong now?), he mumbled up to the heavens, "This is so troublesome. Stupid meddling fox." Second chances sucked.

* * *

AN: And on that oh-so-cheerful note, I welcome you to the end of the prologue. So be honest, what did you think? Is this a decent start to a time-travel fic in the Naruto-verse? Heh, it's a plot bunny I really want to get rid of. Review, if ya please.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters, places, and ideas belong to Kishimoto. I'm just borrowing them for the time being.


	2. Chapter One

AN: There will be a number of differences between this Naruto and the one in canon. The reasons will eventually be revealed as the story continues, but I just wanted to give an early warning in case anybody was confused. Also, I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies such as character age and behavior that will likely occur in this story. Keep in mind that these aren't my characters and I won't know exactly how they'll react in certain situations. But that's the kind of challenge I want when writing fanfiction. So enjoy.

* * *

Chapter One

He was back in the past and Konoha wasn't destroyed. At least not yet. Normally he would've been happy to have the only home he'd ever known back to its proud and prosperous state, but not this time.

_How can I be happy when everything I look at is covered in memories of what's to come?_ Naruto thought, eyes downcast as he trudged down the dirt path to the more populated areas of the Hidden Leaf Village. He kept his gaze on the ground as he passed people in the streets. If he looked at them for even a moment, chances were likely that he'd know exactly who they were, how they'd died, and why he hadn't been able to save them.

After all, he'd become the Rokudaime Hokage just like he'd said he would, even if it only lasted two years before the Leaf-Sound War came to a head. In that short reign as leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, Uzumaki Naruto had met a great deal of people that lived in his home. Though some had still been wary of him due to his state as the container of the nine-tailed fox, many came to respect the good leader and powerful shinobi he'd become and often made an effort to make up for their past behavior towards him. These redemption attempts usually consisted of dinner invitations or maybe even setups with eligible daughters (which he'd always politely refused, stating that he was too busy with his duties for such things, but perhaps some other time), but overall he'd become acquainted with a lot of people.

Now as he walked through the semi-crowded streets of Konoha, Naruto refused to look at the faces of people he knew were dead, or were going to be. It was only a matter of time.

Suddenly, a familiar smell interrupted his depressing thoughts and he looked up, cerulean eyes widening momentarily in surprise before they closed off again into an icy mask of indifference. _It seems that even after all this time this place remains one of the few sanctuaries I'll go to when I need to think_, Naruto mused, staring blankly at the entrance to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop.

"Well, I guess I'll have some ramen for old times' sake," the redheaded shinobi said and headed into the restaurant. Little did he know that his decision would be one of the significant moments to many great changes to come.

* * *

Ichiraku Teuchi, the elderly owner and main cook of the noodle shop, was used to seeing many new and interesting people come into his little shop every day. It was one of the quirks of being in the food industry, especially when said food was very tasty and came at a reasonable price compared to other restaurants in Konoha.

So when a red-haired man dressed mostly in black with the exception of the tattered white cloak hanging off his shoulders walked into his shop, he merely raised an eyebrow for an instant before calling out a greeting.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's, young man. May I get you anything?" he asked.

The stranger paused for a second, a strange expression crossing his face, and then his cerulean eyes met the black eyes of the noodle chef and the odd moment passed. A placid smile formed on the redhead's lips and he nodded.

"Hai, Ichiraku-san. I would like to try a bowl of miso ramen," he said politely, sitting at one of the barstools on the edge.

Teuchi smiled at him before turning to look into the backroom where his daughter, Ayame, was working. "Ayame, could you please prepare some miso ramen for our costumer?" he asked his fourteen-year-old, brown-haired daughter. The girl stopped sweeping the floor and nodded.

"You got it, Father," Ayame replied and went to get the necessary supplies.

Teuchi went back to the front and smiled kindly at the stranger. "Your food will be ready for you in a few minutes, sir," he told the man.

"You can call me Arashi, Ichiraku-san," the young man said. "I won't mind."

"Arashi, you say? It's nice to meet you. My name is Ichiraku Teuchi."

The young man—Arashi—smiled warmly and in that moment Teuchi thought he looked strangely familiar. And as he looked at the redhead a little more closely, he picked up certain details previously missed.

Though the blue eyes were lighter and set in a narrower, leaner face, they looked eerily similar to the face of his top costumer. And the dark parallel lines that curved down the side of Arashi's slightly tanned face at first glance looked like scars, but seemed more like whisker marks upon further inspection. The overall effect gave the wild-haired redhead a very feral look similar to the Inuzuka Clan living in Konoha.

"Arashi-san, are you by any chance part of a clan around here?" Teuchi questioned curiously.

The redhead looked at him questioningly but shook his head. "No, the last of my family . . . they died a long time ago," Arashi said quietly, his expression hidden by his bangs as he looked down. "I'm the last of them now."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any painful memories," the ramen chef apologized, hoping he hadn't offended his new costumer.

But his worries were unfounded because Arashi shrugged and waved it away. When he looked up at Teuchi, his face was neutral but still welcoming. "It's okay," he assured the older man. "I've adjusted to it." However, he grew curious. "Why do you ask?"

The chef rubbed his head in embarrassment but answered, though he wasn't entirely truthful. "Well, you bear a strange resemblance to the Inuzuka Clan. You both have feral-like traits and have a strange 'wild' air about you."

Arashi's face shifted to a blank, confused look before it turned thoughtful. "Inuzuka? I heard they are one of the best trackers in Konoha," he conveyed. "Though I may be a bit skilled in tracking, I'm not an Inuzuka. Actually, I'm not entirely sure what my real last name is."

Before Teuchi could question him about that unusual remark, Ayame arrived with a steaming bowl of miso-flavored ramen. With a smile, she set it down in front of Arashi and proclaimed with pride, "One delicious miso ramen, hot and ready, sir!"

Teuchi chuckled at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Ayame, you shouldn't brag yet. Wait until Arashi-san tastes it."

The redhead ignored them and grabbed the pair of chopsticks set next to his right. With a relaxed, "Itadakimasu," he broke the sticks apart and dug into the bowl of noodles. Teuchi and Ayame watched as Arashi devoured the food in less than two minutes, seemingly unaffected by the heat. And this time Ayame also experienced the strange sense that this redhead was familiar, though she wasn't nearly as subtle about it as her father.

"Hey, Arashi-san. Have you been here before? You seem kind of familiar."

The young man looked up, several noodles hanging out of his mouth in a rather comical look, especially with his blue eyes confused and eyebrows rose halfway to his hairline where a black bandanna kept his unruly bangs out of the way. It made Ayame giggle and Teuchi smirk in amusement.

"Well, I did come here a long time ago with my father, but it was only for a little bit," Arashi mentioned, a nostalgic gaze replacing his funny expression after he swallowed. "I didn't remember until you brought it up," he added predicting the question they wanted to ask.

"Then as a 'welcome back' sort of thing, this bowl is on the house!" Ayame chirped happily, grinning at the attractive redhead.

"Arigato, Ayame-chan!" Arashi said appreciatively and focused back on the delicious bowl of ramen, completely missing the blush that burned brightly on the girl's cheeks. Teuchi, though, noticed it easily.

_It looks like Ayame has another crush_, the old man thought in exasperated amusement. _Oh, well . . . at least this one is polite. Still, this means I'll need to give her "the talk" soon. She's growing up so fast._

While this was going on, Arashi was thinking of other things. He, or rather, Uzumaki Naruto of nine years in the future of another timeline, was reminiscing of the much simpler times when he had been able to just kick back and relax at Ichiraku's and consume obscene amounts of the delicious ramen the restaurant was famous for. There had been no duties other than those assigned to common Genin, and even then Naruto had almost as much free time as he'd had before joining Team Seven.

_Too bad Iruka-sensei worked at the Academy most of the day_, Naruto thought, and a twinge of loneliness hit his heart. _I hardly got to see him after I graduated_. When he'd told this time's Teuchi and Ayame that he'd been here with his father a long time ago he'd been telling the truth, for the most part. Though his blood-father had been Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, Umino Iruka was the one to raise him as a father. And in Naruto's life as an orphan and hated outcast, he'd learned to take anything that came.

It was only when he graduated the Ninja Academy at twelve that the loneliness began again.

Naruto smiled bitterly, staring down at the broth in his bowl and seeing his murky reflection do the same. _Seems my life has been just a big cycle of ups and downs_, he mused. _Become a ninja, lose Iruka, meet Team Seven, be outshined by Sasuke-teme, finally get acknowledged by the jerk as a rival and best friend, but then lose him to his vengeance and Orochimaru-teme. And that's just the start of the crap in my life._

If any of his friends had been there at that moment, they probably would've been shocked to see how gloomy their normally happy-go-lucky, knuckle-headed friend had become. Of course, they had all died before the Leaf-Sound Great War became full scale, so it was likely they wouldn't have understood most of the changes he'd gone through anyway. War could change even the most optimistic of people, if it didn't outright kill them.

"Hey, Teuchi-ojiji! I'd like thirty bowls of your best ramen!" a very familiar voice shouted, startling the redhead out of his thoughts.

"Naruto! Take it easy or I'll be broke before the evening is out!" yet another extremely familiar voice scolded. This one made Naruto—Arashi's sharpened nails clench tightly into his palms, drawing blood. The pain failed to distract him from the sudden torment his heart was experiencing, as if it was being crushed and stabbed at the same time.

_This is too much. I need to control myself or else I might do something I'll regret._

Closing ocean eyes that had started to glow a faint red, Arashi took a deep breath and ignored the arrival of his hyperactive blond self of the past, and the scarred Chunin that had been his father in all but blood. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

"Hey, mister! Who the hell are you?"

Arashi opened his eyes and looked to his immediate right where a pair of nearly identical blue eyes was staring curiously into his. For a moment a heavy silence passed in which three onlookers tensed, worried that the redhead was yet another one of those people that hated the blond for what he was. However, such uncertainties were unnecessary, for more reasons than they would ever know.

"That's no way to greet people, gaki," Arashi said dryly, hiding his amused smile at the question.

The spiky-haired preteen scowled and sat back in the stool he'd taken next to the red-haired stranger he'd never seen before in Ichiraku's. That scowl turned into a pouting glare when the man smiled and pretended to ignore him by drinking the rest of his food down in a couple large gulps.

"Hey, the name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm not a brat!" he shouted indignantly.

"You're right," Arashi said amiably, earning disbelieving looks from the three people watching the unusual exchange.

Naruto blinked, thrown off his rant by the agreement. "Huh?" was his intelligent response.

Arashi grinned at him, the action mischievous and suddenly reminding everyone but the surprised and oblivious blond of a fox. "You're not just a brat, but a loudmouth, too!" Arashi snickered.

Everyone face-faulted.

As usual, Naruto was the first to recover, and he leapt on top of his seat with a squinty-eyed glower and a finger pointed rudely at the redhead. He yelled, "Just who the heck are you, bastard!? And take that back! 'Cause if you don't, then when I'm Hokage I'm gonna make you pay!"

"Naruto, sit down!" Iruka growled at the boy, annoyed at his behavior. He was also worried that the boy would offend the redhead who seemed to hold no grudge against the child, and would end up driving away the friendly stranger. But once again, said man surprised everyone when he simply brushed off the boy's insults with remarkable ease.

Tossing several bills on the bar to pay for his meal, the young man stood up and smiled warmly at them. "Heh, a kid like you has a long way to go before you become Hokage," he said to Naruto. "But I have a feeling that with a lot of work, you'll make it. Just promise me one thing, Uzumaki Naruto."

Unable to look away from the powerful blue eyes that held him, the blond asked warily, "What?"

A smile curled the redhead's lips as he looked at the boy. It was gentle and proud, the kind of smile one would give a younger sibling or son. "Always cherish and protect what is most precious to you. That is where true strength comes from." He was almost at the exit before he stopped and added, "Oh, and before I forget . . . My name is Arashi. Remember it."

And then like an apparition, the strange young man named Arashi vanished in a swirl of fall-colored leaves.

* * *

A few miles away in a large building that reached a great distance skyward, an elderly man dismissed the images of a certain ramen shop from a crystal ball set on his desk which quickly turned opaque once more. This man was none other than the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the successor of the Nidaime as well as the ex-mentor of the man to teach the Fourth Hokage. Though he was getting on in years, Sarutobi was still considered one of the best ninja ever born, having earned himself the nickname "The Professor" in his earlier days for his superb knowledge.

And as one with vast stores of knowledge, he knew that this incident was something to worry about. Sarutobi knew the faces of each and every one of his shinobi and a fair amount of citizens. The way the man that called himself Arashi carried himself was distinctly shinobi yet Sarutobi did not recognize him. The last time that happened was when his old teammate Shimura Danzo created Root. He hoped this wasn't a repeat of the past.

Sighing, he put the crystal ball away in his desk, locking it, and then got up and went to stand by the window that overlooked the whole village. "Whoever you are, Arashi, I hope your interest in Naruto isn't dangerous," the wizened man said. "Either way, I will find out who you are, and do whatever it takes to keep him and this village safe."

Yet even as he signaled his ANBU to search for the mysterious redhead with orders to escort him to the Hokage's Tower, Sarutobi couldn't stop one thought from surfacing.

_Why does this "Arashi" look so familiar?_

* * *

AN: And that's the end of chapter one. I have some of chapter two written down right now, but it will be a while before I finish so I'm sorry for the wait. Eh, but maybe I'll get some inspiration in the next few days since my birthday is coming up. August 7th, in case any of you wanted to know.

I want to thank everybody that added this story to their favorites and to those following it. Even with no reviews it's still nice to know that people are reading this and that's the reason why I'm posting this. I wanted to share it and I'm glad I did.

Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying this so far. See ya later!

~amkay


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